Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.), chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee’s Crime
and Terrorism Subcommittee, apparently wants the Justice Department to defer
less to the IRS when deciding whether to investigate political campaign-related
activity of social welfare organizations exempt from federal income tax under
section 501(c)(4) of the Internal Revenue Code, according to a story in Tax
Notes Today. Whitehouse’s comments were
offered at yesterday’s subcommittee hearing, “Current
Issues in Campaign Finance Law Enforcement.” Whitehouse reportedly expressed doubt that the
question of whether an organization has falsely claimed to have made no expenditures
for political campaign activity is characterized by tax law complexity. He also voiced concern that 501(c)(4)s are
being used in a manner that obscures the identities of ultimate contributors of
funds destined for political action committees.